It’s a surprisingly busy winter for us at Ironwood Farm. We’re starting first seeds for the spring fieldhouses, leeks, and soon onions and nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant). We’re knee deep in planning: hiring for our 2019 crew, addressing weak links in our chains of production from seed to dollar, and thinking about what we need at the farm to make a happy, creative work environment that provides space for our families and connects to other local businesses.

Aliyah and Molly are expecting their baby very soon as Molly heads towards her 34th week of pregnancy! So there is a sweet fire burning under our butts to get things sorted out before Aliyah takes a much supported & deserved maternity leave.

We are feeling the shift in winds of a partner’s departure and having young families: it is a strong theme as we head into 2019. Jenny’s move to Idaho to begin a new venture has opened palpable space on the farm. We feel her vacancy. There is a sliver of quiet space which used to be filled by her conversation, her devouring of audiobooks, her speed and alchemy of getting things done and creating solutions and new directions. The farm is noticeably quieter and slower. Her departure invites Aliyah and I to ask ourselves what we want. There is also an opening of human space for the participation of our romantic partners to turn an eye to the farm, seeing what they’d like to make of our collective connection to this place for as long as we have it.

All of this to say there is an air of hope and curiosity at the future while we quietly plod along and start stirring the magic of a natural cycle which will soon explode with the sun’s return. We’re finishing the new floor of our greenhouse, which now has French drains thanks to Jonney, Lauren’s brother Walker, and some help from Nicholas from Whistledown Farm! We have numerous projects we want to tend to and were trying to stay focused on the ones which get us closer to harmonic connection with the folks, creatures and ecosystems we work with. All of this while picking & packing for local restaurants and food businesses.

As we think of the sun returning, we’re thinking of harvesting armfuls and truckloads of vegetables and fragrant herbs soon. We hope you will join us in this season’s delicious adventure! We will be opening all of our CSAs for sign-up in February . We’ve also developed a CSA survey from 2018 that we hope previous members will help us answer to troubleshoot and celebrate our distributions. Stay tuned for a link in your inbox!

We look forward to sending more news soon as the season develops, and the new baby arrives!